LESSONSFROMTHEPAST?

Ray
Bradbury's "The Chicago Abyss" is a tale of an old man who remembers
too much. In the rubble of some bombed out urban center, the people physically
abuse the old man when he shares his memories of such things as Baby Ruth
candy bars, music, restaurants, and television. A small group protects
and cares for the old guy, hiding him from the ever-searching police. Of
course, the reason for the loathing and fear of this gentleman was that
he held a frame of reference that degraded the present.

This brings us to the matter of controlling such memories and the
proverbial "lessons of history." Although the past is for all
intents and purposes gone (the present is shaped by its own past and future),
it is routinely resurrected to serve various functions. For instance, in
the post-911 era of Homeland
Security, the Patriot
Act, and White House framings of policy criticism being unpatriotic, NPR observed
in March 2004 the 50th anniversary of
Sen. Joseph McCarthy's appearance of Edward R. Murrow's "See It
Now." Each generation
selects its own history--and the ancestors it chooses to remember. As George
Orwell observed, "Whoever controls the past controls the future. Whoever
controls the present controls the past."

AMERICAN HISTORY

"Making of
America"--digital library from University of Michigan and Cornell containing thousands of
19th century books and journal articles
For primary source material from 18th century America check out Archiving
Early America

POPULAR CULTURE

REMEMBERING THE WARS

An enterprise well worth investigating is the Legacy
Project, that honors veterans by preserving their war letters. In
May 2001 the first compilation was published by Scribner, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence From American
Wars (Andrew Carroll, ed.). Check out its companion
website.